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Monday, December 22, 2008

Ear Flaps Are All the Rage

Yesterday we had our family Chanumas/Chrismakah celebration and I got to give out all the handknits. Everything was a big hit (although I think my father may need a little more convincing that green socks aren't all that wild). My brother also got the opportunity to model my latest FO, his present:

You may remember that my brother is in college in the Land of the Big Snow. He had mentioned to my mother that he was interested in a hat with ear flaps to keep his sensitive ears warm on his walks across campus. He is not at all interested in knit socks (thankfully -- the kid is now 6'3", so that should give you some idea of the size of his feet), so I was thrilled that there was one knit gift I could make him.

The hat pattern is very cute, but I knew there was no way my brother would go for snowflakes, so I got rid of the stranded patterning altogether and stuck to a solid color. I made the earflaps just a couple of stitches wider and a couple rows longer, adjusting the stitches for the rest of the hat as necessary. The brim starts with a couple of purl rows that were causing it to curl most unattractively, so I added the crochet both as a decorative element and to get the hat to sit flat. I made the I-cord straps just a little larger than called for (five stitches rather than three), and I just had to add the tassels for the fun factor.

My brother has always been the first in my family to make fun of my knitting obsession, so I took it as a compliment that he put the hat on as soon as he opened it and kept it on until he and my parents left our house. Here he is channeling his inner Zoolander.

Hmmm...maybe if your brother likes this pattern then my fourteen-year-old nephew will. I'll have to remember that you are the one that made these modifications to Tiennie's hat....maybe if I start chanting 'Blue Steel','Blue Steel','Blue Steel' then I will remember. The hat looks great on your brother!